Acts
Last Sunday I preached from Acts 17:22-31, which is the story of Paul's visit to Athens and his sermon at the Areopagus. In many ways, just as Paul faced a different world in Athens, we are living in a different world than the Church has ever encountered
Cultural Competency
Multicultural churches are all the rage these days. Conferences are packed with pastors learning how to start multicultural churches, or how to turn the churches they pastor into one. That long-overdue trend is welcomed because God is the God of diversity. In light of God's call to reconciliation,
Books
Two bound copies of my dissertation arrived today. The title is The Reconciling Community: The Missional Mending of Spiritual and Social Relationships Through Local Church Ministry. I lived with writing this for almost two years, so it is very gratifying to see it done, bound, and approved. Still waiting for
administration
Over the centuries of church history, various metaphors have been used to describe the role of God’s chosen leaders. Some metaphors have lodged permanently in our collective consciousness, while others have not passed the test of time. I suggest that there is one more metaphor for the pastor’s
Cultural Competency
Almost fifty years ago, a Baptist minister stood before a sea of hopeful people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial to share the dream God had given him. On that day the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I have a dream that one day on the red
Congregation
The Tennessean, the daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee, featured an article today on small churches and when they should close. In the article, Short on Cash, People, Small Churches Consider Closing, reporter Bob Smietana profiles three Nashville area churches that had to face their own mortality. Bob was kind enough
Congregation
You need to read The Future of Evangelicalism: A Conversation With Rick Warren over at The Pew Forum. It's long, and covers a lot of territory, but in it Rick talks about how megachurches do the small church thing (my words, not his). Here's a quick
Leadership
For those of you who missed the webinar, The Strengths of a Small Church, with Brandon O'Brien and me, the video is online now. Tim Avery at BuildingChurchLeaders.com put it up yesterday at their site. The seminar was well-attended with lots of participation in the comments and
Acts
On Pentecost, the community that was divided by God at the Tower of Babel is recreated in the miracle of communication at the coming of the Holy Spirit. Babel Revisited Acts 2:1-21 1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like
evangelism
I admit to some ambivalence when I received Shannon O'Dell's book, Transforming Church in Rural America: Breaking All The Rurals. I write for small church pastors and leaders, and one of the themes I keep hitting is "small churches don't have to be
Leadership
Only one more day until "The Strengths of a Small Church" webinar on May 6, 11 am to 12 noon EDT. You can join the almost 500 other participants by registering here. The free video webinar hosted by Christianity Today's BuildingChurchLeaders.com features Brandon O'
evangelism
The graffiti message scrawled on the building next door to the church screamed, Satan Is Alive! But that did not deter Randy Brown from becoming the pastor of Military Avenue Evangelical Presbyterian Church in 1989. Located in inner city Detroit, Military Ave. EPC had enjoyed a distinguished history for a